King of Mars

by Jack Stornoway

knife. It wasn't from the airship, which meant he had acquired it since they landed. It was bright and gleaming, and obviously hadn't been lying out in sand-storms. The thought filled her with excitement. If one of the miners had given him a knife, she might have an ally in the colony, someone else who wanted to escape. How could figure out who it was?

  The knife gave her courage. The thought of killing Tadeusz came to mind, but she dismissed the idea immediately. He was too strong, and he wore an insulated carbon-fibre suit that would be difficult to stab through.

  Then she remembered the drugs. Her husband had landed prepared to trade, carrying a small satchel of cocaine, and a few cartons of marijuana and tobacco cigarettes. The drugs were legal in the Sudamérican colonies, and common enough in the major centres, but out here invaluable. She had seen how avidly the miners clutched the tiny packets of marijuana and tobacco cigarettes that Tadeusz passed out. Maybe that was how her husband got the knife.

  For a long time she wondered about the rim-walls of the crater and the vast flat lowlands beyond. If she could manage to steal an auto-gyro, she could probably get to other side of the dunes, and there hopefully she could find her airship. She wouldn't need food or water to get that far. The thought of the time it would take to find her airship versus the time it would take for Tadeusz to catch up in his airship worried her. She doubted she could do it, but she had to try.

  Eve turned off her light to go to bed, but before she got to her bed the airlock chime sounded. Eve approached the airlock cautiously not wanting to make a sound in case it was Tadeusz. She looked through the airlock view-screen and saw one of the ragged colonists standing outside. Eve opened the airlock, and the ragged colonist entered to old red-cement house.

  "Mrs. Eve Johns? This is Gol-nasrin. You have marijuana?"

  Gol-nasrin was the Persian woman from the old Iranian mining colony in Hyperborea far to the north. Eve remembered Gol-nasrin from the funeral. She remembered Gol-nasrin eyes as she'd turned away, and how they had seemed compassionate.

  "Yes, I have marijuana! Come in out of the cold!"

  "I can not stay!" Gol-nasrin said stepping into the airlock. "He will come soon. He cannot see me here! He will kill me!"

  "Gol-nasrin, can you get me out of here? Can you? Please!"

  The Persian woman was silent.

  "Can you get me to our airship? My husband was told it was anchored on the north side of the central dunes!"

  "The dunes? Yes. Your airship is there. I saw it while prospecting." There was sudden eagerness in Gol-nasrin's voice.

  Eve was almost frantic. "Yes Gol-nasrin! Take me to my airship and I'll give you all the marijuana on board! Can we take an auto-gyro?"

  "No, the auto-gyros are too loud," the finality of Gol-nasrin's voice was a blow to Eve. "Maybe we can go on foot, are you fast? Can you walk fast? Can you climb?"

  "Yes, definitely!" Eve replied, "How long would it take on foot?"

  The airlock chimed again, and Gol-nasrin slipped into the closet next to the airlock where Eve's still-suit was hanging. The lights were still off, and Eve quietly slipped into bed. A light shone in the window, and a minute later the airlock outer door opened, then the inner door, and Tadeusz was in her house.

  Eve heard Tadeusz's feet walk across the room, then she felt him staring down at her, breathing roughly. His rank body-odour was unmistakable. He stood listening, and she kept her breathing deep and regular, hoping he would not try to wake her, for more than one reason. She had the knife in her hand, but doubted it would help. Suddenly a light flashed on her face. After a minute of examination, he turned it off and walked away. Eve lay rigid, listening to the airlock doors open and close before she got up.

  Before she got to the airlock Gol-nasrin stepped out of the closet and whispered, "I take you to the airship, and you give me the marijuana, yes?"

  Eve quickly put on her still-suit. She pulled on her duster and thrust the knife into her still-suit pocket. It took her only a few minutes before they exited the airlock, and Gol-nasrin pulled her towards the dark dunes. The two moved rapidly into the darkness. Almost before she realized it, they were working their way across the red rocks, rising from the drifting sands. Gol-nasrin was jumping quickly from rocky outcropping to outcropping. Eve had a problem keeping up, and then missed a rock and landed in the sand. She sank up to her waist in the loose dusty sand, and Gol-nasrin turned back to help pull her out.

  "You must be careful," Gol-nasrin stated as she pulled Eve onto the rock she was kneeling on. "You can sink right into this sand past your head."

  Eve knew why Gol-nasrin was travelling by rocks, but she wasn't used to this type of travel. There were no sand seas up in the highlands where she'd spent most of her life. Although she knew about the sand-traps, she'd never fallen into one before. She didn't bother responding to Gol-nasrin suggestion that she be careful. There didn't seem to be anything to say to that. She followed Gol-nasrin across the rocky outcroppings, going slower and more cautiously. Gol-nasrin seemed somewhat annoyed by their slow progress, but Eve didn't want to fall into the sand again.

  They reached the end of the rocky outcroppings they'd been on, and nothing but sand stood between them and the dunes. Gol-nasrin turned back to Eve, "Follow me exact, or you fall in," and she started out across the sand, sinking knee-deep into the ruddy dust.

  Eve had no idea how long they struggled and fought through the knee-deep sand. Time and again she slipped in the sand, as if they were walking along the top of a rocky outcropping just beneath the sand, a rocky outcropping that sank in each direction. She managed to catch herself each time she slipped, but each time Gol-nasrin paused and turned back. They were clearly making terrible time. Eve kept going, fighting with the strength of desperation in every step. Suddenly, rocks emerged from the sand in front of them, and Gol-nasrin was climbing up onto them.

  Once on the rocks Eve turned to look back, and realized they were partway around the central dunes. The colony was no longer in view, and she was amazed they'd already travelled that far. Before them, another string of rocks broke through the sand leading out of view. Overhead, Phobos was high and provided some light on the rocks ahead of them, but the Persian woman wasn't looking at the moon or the sand dunes. She was moving swiftly out cross the rocks bounding relentlessly. From time to time she glanced back. Was she expecting Tadeusz so soon? They made better progress now. Gol-nasrin did not waste time. She led swiftly and Eve almost lost view of her many times. The Persian woman was obviously frightened.

  Leaving the rocks behind, Gol-nasrin led Eve along a steep, sandy path leading up the dunes. Once they started to climb the sand became firmer, and soon they were only sinking ankle deep. Eve knew they were running out of time, when she saw the east horizon was beginning to glow orange. Despite the night of travel, she had the feeling they hadn't gotten far enough.

  From time to time Gol-nasrin stopped. She looked ahead but appeared to be listening for something. Eve was fighting exhaustion now. Not only had they encountered the roughest travel she had ever known, but they had also kept a pace she was not used to. Yet the Persian woman showed no evidence of fatigue and no intention of slowing down. It was clear she knew if they were caught, Eve might be taken back to the colony, but she would be shot on the spot. Gol-nasrin turned now, changing her course to proceed more directly north, but her eyes continued to watch toward her left.

  Was the fact that they had to go down the sand dunes what Gol-nasrin feared? Tadeusz could guess their route or maybe follow their tracks. He could use the airship to come around the dunes and head them off. It would be easy enough to do, and in as little as an hour he could render their night of struggle pointless.

  The ridge they had been following dipped sharply down into a fantastic sandy gorge. Here the rocks were scarce, and Gol-nasrin started sliding down the gorge. Eve realized that the slide was intentional, and followed suit. It only took a few minutes to reach the floor of the crater, where they slid into the sand up to their knees. Ahead
of them was another stretch of rocks leading off towards the west. They clambered onto the rocks as the sun burst over the eastern horizon.

  The rocks curved sharply to the left in front of them, but remained low allowing them to move quickly. In the daylight she understood Gol-nasrin's urgency, there was no cover here, if Warszawski's airship passed over, there would be nowhere to hide.

  Gol-nasrin started moving fast again, with only a glance back at Eve, nearly running wherever the rocks were even enough to permit it. At times they had to climb over great tumbled masses of red boulders, or walk cautiously across sand-smoothed rocks, some of them covered with encroaching sand drifts.

  They came around the edge of a sand dune and there Eve's airship sat, the carbon-nanotube envelope folded down onto the roof of the gondola. Eve's heart sank, Tadeusz had deflated the airship, it would take hours to get it into the sky.

  "Your airship," Gol-nasrin stated as they started towards it. "You give me marijuana on the airship."

  The old Russian airship was sitting in a deep canyon that the wind had